A Tale of the Remembered
by RoyalOranges
Summary: A young man the age of wakes up on one of the most feared days in all of the non-career districts. He is met with soon to be tragedy and encounters obstacles and challenges as he fights to survive against twenty-three other children, to come back to his family residing in district 7.
1. How it all began

I wake from my sleep in a cold sweat; I have an agonizing feeling of fear. The thing is I don't even know why, I walk down the hallway to see my mother, her hands covering her face. I can see small droplets of tears and I jump to her side "Mom, what's wrong" I say in a worried voice. She looks at me with eyes that tell the pain she feels.

"You're my only son, my only child. I just... I just don't want to lose you Aspen".

"Lose me... What are you talking about...?" That's when I realize what day it is. Today is the day that everyone district 4-12 dread the most. Reaping day, the day that a male and female tribute are taken from their district, in my case district 7, and sent to the capitol and eventually to an arena. They are then given time to say their last goodbyes, they are taken to the capitol, which is the place that controls all the districts, in the capitol they will be presented in costumes, given interviews, and then based on how well they train in combat they will be given a score from 1 to 12, 12 being the best score possible. After that they are taken into an arena where all 24 tributes will fight to the death until there is only one left. Twenty-four go in, one comes out I think to myself.

The chance of being reaped also depends on something called tesserae, you can sign up for one year's supply of grain and oil in exchange for your name being put into the reaping bowl as many times as you sign up for tesserae. Another factor is age, at age twelve your name is put in once, originally unless you sign up for tesserae, once your thirteen it is put in twice, fourteen it is put in three times, so on and so on. I am fifteen plus the fact that I sign up for tesserae three times as to cover for me and my parents, so my name will go into the bowl seven times.

"Mom, it will be fine. There are much older boys than me plus most of the guys at my school take out tesserae for their family too".

"Aspen you know that that doesn't matter, your name will be in that bowl seven times"!

"Mom its fine"!

"I know how hard it must be on you to think that you would lose me, but think about it. I'm the one going to have to starve, or be brutally murdered, not you"!

"But I will have to watch you die"!

"Mom…"

"No Aspen, it's fine. I'm sorry for being worried for your life". This strikes me deep, my mom is always emotional before reaping day, but I've never really yelled back before.

"Mom, even if I am reaped who says I don't have a chance at winning"?

"It doesn't matter if you win or not"! she quiets down to a hushed voice and begins to talk "You are a child, you shouldn't HAVE to murder another human being for your own survival because some old guy says it's punishment, and even if you do come back, the games could change you, break you, they could psychologically scar you for life. I couldn't live with myself knowing that it's partly my fault".

"How exactly would it be your fault, I take tesserae because I love you and dad, it's a risk I take and if it means I have a greater chance of being reaped, oh well. It's much better than starving". I wrap my mother in a hug because to be honest I don't know how it would feel, no matter how hard I try. Nothing has ever died that is mine; I've never really had anything to call my own except for my room, my clothes, my body, and the food I eat.

"I love you Aspen" she says as a tear is produced from her eye.

"I love you too mom" I say back to her. "Your father is at work, he said if you wanted to go help, you could. You don't have to if you don't want to though" she said in a caring voice, I could tell she didn't want me to do much. She still thinks I am a child, she think that just because It's reaping day I can't handle helping my own father carry logs at his work.

No matter how young she thinks I am, she's my mother, and I love her. I grab my black coat, put on my boots and leave the house with a swift farewell to my mother. I walk down the road and go to my dad's workplace where I find him chopping at trees with four other men. "Hey dad" I say as I grab an axe from the toolshed that is full of tools sent from the Capitol so District 7 may chop trees to produce the lumber that is then transported to the capitol, it's really messed up when you think about it, the men of this district work close to all day and for what. So the children grow up with breathing problems from the wood chippings brought home? They could at least give us sufficient funds to make it easier for us to put food on the table. But of course I shouldn't be complaining, I'm sure the other districts have it much worse and I don't exactly have a house full of family members, just me, my mom, and my dad.

"Timber!" I hear as I look in the direction my dad's coworker has yelled. It's at that moment I hear the clang of the axe I hold fall to the cement. I hear cracking of the branches as the tree falls, but it is accompanied not only by yells of terrified men, it is accompanied by my father's screams of pain. I shiver as I hear not only branches cracking but my father's bones as well.


	2. The first tragedy strikes

"Dad" I yell as I run towards my dad, not knowing what I am doing I fall to his side an try to push the enormous tree that has not only fallen upon my father but skewered him through the stomach. I then realize that moving this log would cause my father to be injured even further. I look up desperately as I see the other men; one stood puking away from the scene another frozen in shock and another man has run to find help. The fourth is on the other side of the log frantically trying to remove it from the top of my father, I know he is trying to help but he is making it worse. "Stop it, you're killing him!" I yell. Tears have started to produce in my tear ducts. I look at my father laying there, I try my best to lift the log as to reduce pressure but also do my best not to move it. "Dad..." I say but the dryness of my throat cuts me off.

"Aspen…" he says I move in closer and place my head on his chest, he places his hand on my head "Aspen… you are going to have to be there… for your mother..."

"Dad shut up, you're not going to die I won't let you!" It's a promise I cannot keep, I feel him strain his head and places his face in my hair

"I love you Aspen… tell your mother… tell her I love her"

"I love you dad" I say as I give up my frantic hopes to save him and try to enjoy the last moments I have with him. He grabs my hand

"Son… today is reaping day… promise me… if you… if you're reaped… try to win" I sit there stunned by the reality of the situation, not only is it reaping day, my father is dying in my hands as he tells me his last words. "Dad… Dad, NO…DAD"! I scream, I feel arms picking me up by my armpits, everything is in slow-motion as I'm dragged away I see other lumberjacks and medics rush into the scene, I kick and yell and claw at these evil arms that drag me away from my father.

"Aspen" I hear, I break away from the arms and turn around to see my mother running towards me. "What in the hell happened"!

"He… Dad… the tree… mom… he's" I say, choking on my tears.

"No… No… NO" my mom gets up to run towards the scene but I grab her "Mom no"!

"Don't" I say, we stand there trying to understand why, why of all people and of all days. "It's my fault… I distracted him… he's dead because of me" I say in realization.

"Aspen Charles Washington"! She says "Don't you dare try to blame this on yourself, it was nobody's fault, it was a terrible accident and you know that"! I realize that she is telling the truth and not just trying to cheer me up, but I just can't shake the feeling that it was my fault.

"What do we do now…?" I ask. I honestly don't know what to do, what is there to do. We don't have time to mourn, the reaping takes place in an hour and I now have bloodstains riddled upon my shirt.

"We go home, we eat, we get you prim and proper then we get you to the reaping ceremony". She says with a stern look. We clasp hands and walk home where I take off my clothes and rinse the grease from my brown hair that has grown just below my ears. I wash the dirt and wood chippings from my body and rinse off the trails of tears from my face. I dry off with the towel that is sitting on the dingy sink. I walk over to the mirror and look at my own face, my now shiny brown hair, my hazel eyes, and my somewhat tan skin. I brush the hair out of my face as I swoop it the right, I resist the urge to just altogether put it behind my ears to get it out of the way but then again I would definitely look a little feminine if I did that. I wrap the towel around my waist and walk to my room and see that my mother had laid out some dress clothes for me. I put on some underwear and slip into my dress clothes; I put on my socks and slip into some shoes. I walk into the kitchen to see my mom sitting in a chair at the table, sleeping with her head resting on the table.

I nudge her little "Mom, mom wake up". She wakes up and sees me standing there .

"Aspen, you're dressed, oh I just had the most horrible dream, where's your father"? I stare at her with pain in my eyes and she realizes that she wasn't dreaming, she had just been dunked in reality head first. "I'm sorry" she says as she gets up.

"No it's fine".

She looks at me and arranges my clothes to look neater, "You look so handsome" she says with a smile. I walk outside, my mother close behind. We walk as far as the line in which the fifteen year olds are lined up getting there blood, finger print, and name taken. She hugs me closely "Good luck Aspen, I love you".

"I love you too mom" I say as I let go of her.


	3. Onyx

We are then escorted to a building where we will be held and then given time with our loved ones. Willow and I are separated and taken to separate rooms within the building. I sit down on a couch within the room and wait for the people that come to talk to me within the short time I am given to talk to them. I hear talking outside the door and then one of the peacekeepers opens the door, I stand up. In walks my mother, crying and grieving over my recently deceased father, although she may be grieving over me too. "Mom…" I say but she cuts me off and hugs me tightly

"You will win this aspen, you will win this… and… and come home… to me" she says almost hysterically.

"Mom, I can't make a promise like that…"

"But you can try Aspen, you have worked in that lumber farm with your father for so long, you are a strong young man, you are also very intelligent".

"I can try mom, and I will" she lets go of me and ends the hug, she has her arms outstretched holding my shoulders, "I love you Aspen". She then reaches towards her neck and retrieves a necklace, the chain is made of silver and it has a pendant made from some type of non-transparent yet shiny black mineral.

"Here" she says "it was your father's lucky onyx necklace".

"Onyx?" I ask questioningly,

"A type of mineral, it is… was one of your father's proud possessions. I take it reluctantly and put it over my head and then around my neck, it is light and feels right.

"I love you mom" I say starting to tear up, I quickly wipe away the tears knowing I have to stay strong, if not for me then for her, I must not act scared, I must act brave and face the truth of reality. We hug and the doors open as a peacekeeper notifies us that the time is up.

"Stay strong Aspen, and come back for me"!

"I will try… I love you mom" she looks at me for all we know the last time and says goodbye and gives one last goodbye hug and kiss. The peacekeepers are becoming impatient and rudely "escort" my mother out of the room and shut the door with the swiftest of movements. I am left with thoughts of terror and loneliness until I reach for the onyx pendant. It comforts me, reminds me of my dad, reminds me of how he was ripped away, and reminds me of how I was ripped away. Ripped away because some old guy in the Capitol decided he would take me for the fun of it. For the entertainment of watching twenty-four children bash, beat, slash, crush, drown, burn, and torture each other to death, until one is left standing. One, left to be awarded with wealth and food beyond imagine. Awarded with the guilt of knowing twenty-three other children had the same thoughts, awarded with knowing that out there, there are brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and friends that are grieving over their sibling, over their friend, or over their own child that they have raised.

My grim thoughts are stopped by a man in white body armor; a peacekeeper enters the room and motions me toward the exit. I abruptly stand up and pass him quickly only to be grabbed by another peacekeeper that then guides me in one hand, and Willow in the other. I look over to see Willow's cheeks crowded with dried tears, for once in my life I feel bad for her. She looks at me only to dart her head back down in embarrassment, she doesn't want me to see her weak, which is obvious. We are lead to a train; I am guessing this is the very train that will lead us to wherever we go before the game starts.


End file.
